Women’s basketball making playoff push

With seven games left in the regular season, it looked as if the Boston University women’s basketball team would be one of the lower seeds in the Patriot League Tournament.

Now, after a three-game winning streak, the Terriers (11-16, 6-8 Patriot League) have the opportunity to continue to rise up the standings as each of their last four regular season games are against Patriot League opponents.

“[The win streak] is really important because we’ve made some changes that we think is why we’re winning,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg. “I feel like there’s a real good level of comfort; we’re not trying to do too many different things on offense, so what we are doing we’re doing really well.”

During the win streak, the Terriers have recorded close wins against Lafayette College and Colgate University and a blowout win against Loyola University-Maryland where senior guard Danielle Callahan had a game-high 20 points and reigning Patriot League Anaconda Player of the Week, senior forward Rashidat Agboola added 19 points of her own.

Those wins improved the Terriers’ league record from 3-8 to 6-8, which puts them seventh in the Patriot League standings

The road to the playoffs will be a tough challenge for the young Terriers, as they will play four of the top five teams in the Patriot League to close out the regular season.

“We’re just thinking about the next two to be honest, the two on the road, which we’re looking at as a mini-series,” Greenberg said. “It’s going to be a tough week and its two very difficult trips but we’re going to rest, we’re going to be ready and we’re going to be smart.”

These last four games will be critical for BU as they look to earn an automatic berth into the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League tournament. To do so, the Terriers must finish ahead of the bottom four teams in the conference.

The first round and quarterfinal round take place Mar. 4 and Mar 6, respectively, so the teams that earn a first-round bye will receive much needed rest going into the tournament.

BU will be looking to displace sixth place Lafayette (13-12, 7-7 Patriot League), who stands a game ahead of them in the standings. The two teams split both their meetings this year and each won on the road in two games decided by five points or less.

Offensively, the Terriers will continue to rely on Agboola, who posted her fifth straight double-digit scoring game and also leads the team in rebounds per game.

Agboola’s scoring and her rebounding puts her 10th and fourth in the conference, respectively, and exemplifies why she leads the Terrier attack.

BU will need Agboola’s strong play as the team will be going up against the two top-ranked defenses (American University and the U.S. Military Academy) and two top-five offenses in the College of the Holy Cross and Bucknell University.

The Terriers are averaging only 61.5 points-per-game this season, but over the past two games, have exceeded that average. Greenberg said this can partially be attributed to the simplicity of the plays that the offense has been running recently.

“We’ve kind of chopped off a few of the looks we were running most of the year,” Greenberg said. “Now we are just running three different things and I think that’s helped a lot.”

Even though the rest of the season will be a test for the inexperienced Terrier team, Greenberg said they are ready to embrace the challenge and are ready for a run in the postseason.

“A few tough games, but that’s what it’s all about, and you got to play them,” Greenberg said.

With seven games left in the regular season, it looked as if the Boston University women’s basketball team would be one of the lower seeds in the Patriot League Tournament.

Now, after a three-game winning streak, the Terriers (11-16, 6-8 Patriot League) have the opportunity to continue to rise up the standings as each of their last four regular season games are against Patriot League opponents.

“[The win streak] is really important because we’ve made some changes that we think is why we’re winning,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg. “I feel like there’s a real good level of comfort; we’re not trying to do too many different things on offense, so what we are doing we’re doing really well.”

During the win streak, the Terriers have recorded close wins against Lafayette College and Colgate University and a blowout win against Loyola University-Maryland where senior guard Danielle Callahan had a game-high 20 points and reigning Patriot League Anaconda Player of the Week, senior forward Rashidat Agboola added 19 points of her own.

Those wins improved the Terriers’ league record from 3-8 to 6-8, which puts them seventh in the Patriot League standings.

The road to the playoffs will be a tough challenge for the young Terriers, as they will play four of the top five teams in the Patriot League to close out the regular season.

“We’re just thinking about the next two to be honest, the two on the road, which we’re looking at as a mini-series,” Greenberg said. “It’s going to be a tough week and its two very difficult trips but we’re going to rest, we’re going to be ready and we’re going to be smart.”

These last four games will be critical for BU as they look to earn an automatic berth into the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League tournament. To do so, the Terriers must finish ahead of the bottom four teams in the conference.

The first round and quarterfinal round take place Mar. 4 and Mar 6, respectively, so the teams that earn a first-round bye will receive much needed rest going into the tournament.

BU will be looking to displace sixth place Lafayette (13-12, 7-7 Patriot League), who stands a game ahead of them in the standings. The two teams split both their meetings this year and each won on the road in two games decided by five points or less.

Offensively, the Terriers will continue to rely on Agboola, who posted her fifth straight double-digit scoring game and also leads the team in rebounds per game.

Agboola’s scoring and her rebounding puts her 10th and fourth in the conference, respectively, and exemplifies why she leads the Terrier attack.

BU will need Agboola’s strong play as the team will be going up against the two top-ranked defenses (American University and the U.S. Military Academy) and two top-five offenses in the College of the Holy Cross and Bucknell University.

The Terriers are averaging only 61.5 points-per-game this season, but over the past two games, have exceeded that average. Greenberg said this can partially be attributed to the simplicity of the plays that the offense has been running recently.

“We’ve kind of chopped off a few of the looks we were running most of the year,” Greenberg said. “Now we are just running three different things and I think that’s helped a lot.”

Even though the rest of the season will be a test for the inexperienced Terrier team, Greenberg said they are ready to embrace the challenge and are ready for a run in the postseason.

“A few tough games, but that’s what it’s all about, and you got to play them,” Greenberg said.

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